Leicester’s Top 5; Eat, play, watch, listen, learn.

Leicester Triple Drive-In Theater A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. The screen can be as simple as a wall that is painted white, or it can be a complex steel truss structure with a complex
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Byline: Betty Lilyestrom
Leicester Triple Drive-In Theater A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. The screen can be as simple as a wall that is painted white, or it can be a complex steel truss structure with a complex

In 1965, when Hanna Joseph built his outdoor movie theater off Route 9 west of Leicester Center, drive-ins were springing up all over the county.

The Leicester Drive-In then had a single screen, individual speakers to be taken into the cars and generally a pair of B movies.

Today, most of those drive-ins are long closed. But Leicester’s is bigger and better than ever.

“I saw how the audience was changing, and I changed my operation to give the audience what it wanted” is how Mr. Joseph explains his venture’s continued success.

In the early days, the audience was mostly teens. Nowadays, it’s primarily families. And since not every patron likes the same movie, he installed a second screen and then a third. He replaced the speakers with sound broadcast over the car radio.

Most important, he started showing first-run movies. That meant a price hike, but the one-carful admission policy remained a bargain.

The Leicester Triple Drive-in opened for this season May 1, showing movies on Friday and Saturday only till school ends. Thereafter, shows will run seven nights a week until fall.